How the 4R’s of wRestling Work!Here is a quick explanation of the 4R’s. The column will run TWO times a week. THREE if there is a PPV. We will group our feelings on the shows in various categories: The Right, the wRong and the Ridiculous. The Right is stuff that worked very well: a great promo, a great match and so on. PuRgatoRy is a section between the right and wrong. It shows equal traits from both sides that cannot be ignored and needs discussed. It is not a bad place per say, as things can get remedied or go the wrong way the very next week. The wRong is what it sounds like: bad matches, bad or boring promos and so on. The Ridiculous is stuff that had no right on TV: Stupid angles and so on. And there is always a possibility of a 5th R, which is as bad as they come. This column is supposed to be analytical, and at the right time very critical of the shows, it was the whole reason it was created. This is not a “mark” column, nor a “smark” column, our goal is to analyze the show from many different fronts, reward the good and call out the bad. We will not apologize for our opinions, they are as they are, whether positive or negative.

[If you’re not familiar with these ratings, it’s my own Personal Entertainment Factor. I use a scale of 1-6 (6, in honor of the number of sides TNA’s ring should have), so there’s no middle rating.]

THE RIGHT:Austin Aries vs. Mr. Anderson: This is for the match and the(mini) feud. What you do with a world champion after he loses is so important (see Roode, Bobby) and this is a great idea for Aries. They are both essentially heels, the fans just cheer for Anderson. Both will cheat, which we saw the start of this week. Anderson ups his game based on his opponent, as evidenced by his performances with Kurt Angle and Bully Ray in the past. Aries is one of the best in the world, so I expect this to be good. I also expect it to go on after Aries has his rematch with Hardy.

Which brings me to…

Austin Aries challenges Jeff Hardy: I take only a minor issue with Aries not waiting longer to invoke his rematch clause, but the way he did I was great. I also liked his stealing of the real world title belt. Normally the other belt disappears when a champion has a custom belt. This is a good way to make use of the old title. I hope it leads to Aries stealing Hardy’s version as well, leading to a ladder match between the two in December.

Joey Ryan & Matt Morgan: I’m not sure why they are together at this point, but they are damn entertaining.

Bully Ray & Devon promo: Great mic work by both men, and it sells next week’s Open Fight Night. Their first efforts against each other were uninspired, but I expect this to be awesome. Random fact: Devon challenged Bully Ray in the first ever Open Fight Night match.

Christopher Daniels & Kazarian promo: The best heel promos are when they are telling the truth. And that’s exactly what Kazarian and Daniels did—minus Kazarian’s flight being changed. Which is pretty much a damnation of the current champions. But that’s for later.

Jeremy Borash & Todd Keneley: I likely spelled his name wrong, but he did a great job. Despite Impact Wrestling only being two hours, I am fine with the split broadcasting team. It does achieve their goal of freshening up the broadcast team. I’d actually like to see New Guy with Taz. Funny how Impact Wrestling has two hours and splits it up, where as Raw has three hours and sticks with one team.

Hulk Hogan has something “huge” for James Storm? This has me interested. I hope it leads to something big—although I suspect a knock-off Survivor Series match at Turning Point with Storm as captain of the face team opposite Aces & Eights.

PURGATORY:Tara vs. Miss Tessmacher: I think Tara is going to live here for some time to come. Her act with Jesse is such a waste of her talent—and Jesse is such an afterthought to me. I could care less about him. Any recognizable name would have been better. Plus the title is wasted on her when she’s basically moving on to a feud with half of the Knockouts Tag Team Champions (the female half, which is weird to say).

THE WRONG:Chavo Guerrero Jr & Hernandez: I have to be honest—I couldn’t give a damn about Chavo & Hernandez. Chavo is a cheap Eddie tribute act, and Hernandez is fast becoming a guy full of wasted potential. You can pretty much predict what Chavo will do every time he comes out.

Rob Van Dam vs. Zema Ion and Samoa Joe vs. Robbie T.: If you add these two matches together, you have a near 7 minute match. Add in the fact that if you put that time into one match you have half the entrances, and you’re up to 10 minutes. I’d rather see Zema Ion vs. RVD for 10 minutes than what we got. I can live without those short title matches, even if they are entertaining while they last.

THE RIDICULOUS:NOTHING

The 411

A good show, but one that shows me the company isn’t sure if they are Crash TV or not. I like that Austin Aries is still prominently featured, but I am really missing Bobby Roode. I worry that creative has “nothing for him” right now, which is a shame. If you can’t pick a feud for Roode, use him to elevate some or debut someone new. Still there was more good than bad, but not as good as they could be doing.

THE RIGHT:Kane vs. Cody Rhodes: Kane vs. Cody Rhodes was the opening match on the show, and while short, was a fine little match. Kane continues to work hard with everyone these days, and Cody sells well for the monster. The best part of the match was honestly Daniel Bryan and Damien Sandow on commentary. Bryan discussing his handsome beard and that, “I am the tag team champions,” while Sandow spoke about his IQ growing as he sits there, that his beard was perfect and that Bryan used poor grammar. We got solid wrestling, and a fun exchange at the commentary table. Between the way the Rhodes Scholars act toward everyone else, and the odd couple pairing of Kane and Bryan, the build has been very entertaining.

The Miz vs. Yoshi Tatsu: Last week I thought that it was extremely stupid the way the Miz was booked following his loss to Kofi Kingston, when he lost to Randy Orton. Miz was in limbo, had announced that he would use his rematch clause at HIAC to face Kofi again. Thankfully this week they rehabbed him a bit, and while I still think it needed to be done last week, it was a step in the right direction. Miz had a short match with Yoshi Tatsu, showed a good mean streak and pretty much brutalized you Yoshi. Hopefully that was enough to get Miz some heat heading into his rematch with Kofi, because they work well together and if the fans are into the rematch, it should be a nice addition to the card.

Final Build to Show vs. Sheamus: While it was nothing groundbreaking, I id like the go home angle for Big Show vs. Sheamus. They have been trying to add something to the feud, by making the finishing moves become the centerpiece. They have heavily pushed that the WMD and Brogue kick are deadly and have taken out everyone on the roster, and that these two big men shall meet to decide who it the man. They did the old stand off in the ring, including the line of victims, I mean security, along with Booker asking both men to be professional and to not cause any drama. Show held his ground, saying what he has been saying for weeks, we got to see Sheamus destroy the security guys and have the big stand off with Show. Sheamus had promised to hit as many brogue kicks as he needed to win, and I always love the poor security bastard getting laid out. Again, nothing groundbreaking, I wouldn’t call it a money segment, but I felt that it was good and was designed to be a focused go home segment for the PPV.

PURGATORY:Opening Talky Bit…Again: I have talked about this in the past, but I am not a big fan of the show opening interview segment. I know why they do it, but it now appears to be a crutch that shows use 95% or more of the time. Sure they set up matches and advance angles, but when I see the show opening interview, unless I am recapping, I tend to fade off and not pay attention, because it bores me. Yes it was set up to push the Orton vs. Del Rio feud, as well as set up the Barrett vs. Orton match for later. But I am really sick of the shows opening virtually the same way each and every week. Excuse me for wanting something different.

Randy Orton vs. Wade Barrett: Randy Orton vs. Wade Barrett was the only match on the show that had any substance, simply for the fact that they got 15-minutes to work with. While it seems cool to ate on Orton these days, for some reason, if you give the guy time ad someone skilled to work with, it will be at the very least good. SO given the fact that the other guy was Wade Barrett, yes sir, this was a good match. The worked well together, and Barrett continued t look and carry himself like star. But I have to say that this is another one of those matches that speaks to the overall booking of the product. Last week they felt Orton needed rehabbing, due to him losing a few times, and he defeated Miz, who really needed the win. Also on last week’s show, they beat Barrett when they really shouldn’t have. So in feeling that he needs rehabbing (even thought he doesn’t have a PPV match) they book the angle with Orton, and while Orton was distracted, he lost heading into the PPV. So Barrett, who is NOT on the PPV, was put into a bad position, and they thought that having him beat Orton, who is in one of the top PPV matches, was the right way to fix things. There is no thought put into the booking, they know what PPV matches they want, but then they book so week to week that they wonder why no one has any momentum. That is because of the even Steven booking that happens on an almost weekly basis, to where no one is really over, and then you have this giant group of mid-card guys and no stars.

Daniel Bryan vs. Damien Sandow: Daniel Bryan vs. Damien Sandow was a good wrestling match, going about eight minutes with the commercial break. Good work in the ring, Cody was fun on commentary, complaining about Kane and using the ice pack on his neck. Following some heel shenanigans, Sandow stole the victory from Bryan, giving the heels momentum heading into the PPV. My problem here is just not that Bryan lost; it is how they perceive him. First of all some sort of run in-brawl finish with all four guys would have worked, instead Bryan loses, once again after they are running that “weak link” bullshit. I don’t like angles like this for anyone, because if you tell the audience that someone is shit, and then they lose guess what? PEOPLE THINK THEY ARE SHIT. Yes, the heels cheated and the face lost, I get that, but this is more representative of all WWE booking right now. They wonder why there are no next level of stars ready to go, but refuse to look past their own booking issues. I may have let it go normally, but it seems to happen so often, even on this show, that much like the Barrett vs. Orton match, I had to make mention.

THE WRONG:Diva Drama is Too Much: I really appreciate the attempt to create an interesting angle in the diva’s division. Eve has been pretty great in her role, but this week as they broke out the main reveal and set up a PPV match, I simply hated it. Te backstage segment came off completely annoying, with the women uncontrollably bickering, and Booker appearing to have no control over things. Add into things the tag match, which was rough, and overall I was not a fan of the ladies segments this week. I know some people seem to feel that the tag match was great, and more power to them. But it appeared clipped in spots, Kaitlyn is simply awkward in the ring and Aksana is still not good. Hopefully they have someone very good laying out the triple threat for the PPV, there is talent with the three ladies, and I want them to succeed, but as for the stuff on Smackdown, I just didn’t like it.

THE RIDICULOUS:Nothing

The 411

This was a solid, but unspectacular show once again. They did some nice work hyping the PPV matches, but there also felt like there was so much talking on this show. Combine that with the uneven booking, and once again I have to say that Smackdown is just not must see TV these days. Don’t get me wrong, it isn’t a bad show, but if you missed it, you’re not missing much.

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NEW PODCASTS:411’s Long Road to Ruin: The Rocky Franchise (Part 1): 411’s Mark Radulich and Sean Cormer launch the newest podcast for 411, 411’s Long Road to Ruin. On the show, the guys will breakdown some of the biggest and best movie franchises around. Today, the guys start with the Rocky franchise. Enjoy the show, leave feedback and even make suggestions of future franchise breakdowns. You can listen the show at this link.

411’s Long Road to Ruin: The Rocky Franchise (Part 2): 411’s Mark Radulich and Sean Cormer launch the newest podcast for 411, 411’s Long Road to Ruin. On the show, the guys will breakdown some of the biggest and best movie franchises around. Today, the guys continue with the Rocky franchise, breaking down the third and fourth films. Enjoy the show, leave feedback and even make suggestions of future franchise breakdowns. You can listen the show at this link.

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Thoughts From The Man Cave: Talking Taylor Swift & More: Jody Bergman joins Jeremy Lambert in the Man Cave to talk all things Taylor Swift. We’ll take a look at her new album Red, talk about how she’s grown as an artist but maintained her fan base, and touch on her personal life as well. Plus we’ll veer off on 100 other pop culture topics including talk about awesome people like Anna Kendrick and Emilia Clarke and terrible people like One Direction and Kristen Stewart. This might be my favorite podcast ever given my guest and subject matter. You can check out the show at this link

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